Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1705315.015 - Wabash County Highway Department

Inspection Information - Office: Indiana Department Of Labor

Investigation Summary

At 12:30 p.m. on October 23, 2023, an employee working as a construction laborer for a county highway department was working with a crew of 3 coworkers. The crew utilized a grader, loader, dump truck and broom truck while performing road maintenance which included clearing overgrowth on the sides of a road. The employee was operating an Athey 7-12 loader following a grader. The crew needed to make a second pass at an area they had just cleared in order to finish re-grading the road. In order to do this, the team backed up all of the equipment, but stopped for a break before continuing. A coworker traveled past the loader while heading to a dump truck. This coworker stated that he saw the employee standing on the top of the conveyor system that was located on the rear of the loader. It is unclear as to why the employee did this. When it was time to continue working following the break, the same coworker walked up to the loader to inform the employee. The coworker found the employee caught within the rear side of shovel blades of the loader where the shovel blades meet the conveyor system. The coworker went to the cab and shut down the loader. No one witnessed the incident. The crew called emergency medical services. The employee had died after being crushed and asphyxiated within the loader shovel blades.

Keywords: Abdomen, Amputated, Amputation, Asphyxiated, Back, Catch Point, Chest, Clearing, Crushed, Equipment Operator, Front End Loader, Head, Instantaneous amputation, Laborer, Laceration, Loader, Machine Guarding, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Pinned, Road, Road Grader, Traumatic Amputation